Chapter Text
Yuto swung his head around in every direction. Dimensional travel was far more seamless than expected. One moment he was in war-torn Heartland City, and the next...
He was wherever this was. Yuto cautiously walked out of the alleyway he had appeared in and waved to a passerby. The passerby's eyes widened at his appearance, but Yuto didn't come out of the war with a change of clothes.
"Excuse me, what city is this!?" he called out to the man.
"Er... Paradise City? Are you okay?" the man called back. This time, Yuto's eyes widened, though hidden by his goggles. This was surprisingly convenient. Almost suspiciously so. He had expected to have to venture across Japan, or perhaps the entire world to find the base of operations of Leo Akaba's son.
But thankfully it—a flash of light from behind interrupted Yuto's train of thought. Yuto turned around to see Shay doing pretty much the exact same thing Yuto was doing when he arrived. He walked up to Shay just as he finished looking around in awe.
"Yuto! Alright, we both made it. Let's go find Paradise City," Shay said, pumping his fist as Yuto approached.
Yuto laid a hand on Shay's shoulder. "We're ahead of schedule. This is Paradise City," Yuto explained with a smile behind his mask. Shay pulled down his bandana and gritted his teeth.
"So we're in enemy territory?" Shay confirmed. Yuto wasn't really thinking about that. Maybe he shouldn't have so freely shouted at a passerby for assistance. He looked back. The passerby had walked off, so there'd be no carding him today. Shay was always a little triggerhappy with that function, while Yuto hated having to dip down to the enemy's level. Regardless, it was a necessary backup plan to have, given Academy's backup plans tending to result in blood and death.
"Alright, so, what's the plan to find our target?" Yuto queried his accomplice.
Shay nodded quickly, "Right, we better go over this fast. We need to split up, and make as much noise as possible. Card as many Academy scumbags as you can, until the scumlord himself comes out of hiding."
"Split up? Wouldn't that be dangerous?" Yuto questioned through tight lips.
Shay nodded again and put his bandana back to his face. "Dangerous, but effective. If they don't know there's two of us, it'll make it harder to track either one of us. Now we have to split, before someone notices we're here."
"Right," Yuto replied briefly before running away. He looked over his shoulder to see Shay had run up to the side of the alley and begun climbing a drainpipe.
It didn't take much running for Yuto to reach a port. He hid between two warehouses and looked around. It was sunset and nobody was around. The city seemed like a nice place, in all honesty. It reminded Yuto of Heartland before Fusion attacked.
The sound of a warehouse door sliding open made Yuto jump. He peeked around the corner of the warehouse he was hiding next to, to see a pink haired girl enter the building. It sounded like she was shouting at someone.
Nobody was around, so, naturally, Yuto got a little closer to see what the fuss was about.
"Listen, girly, it doesn't matter what I do to that Poo-ya Sakaki brat, when my father is mayor, your duel school will be kaput!" a snobbish voice declared.
Mayor? Why someone would be bragging about their father's job as a public servant was beyond Yuto. Especially given it wasn't a particularly notable position, like chairman of the nation, or head of a department of some sort. Strange.
Yuto peeked inside of the warehouse. Inside he saw the girl from before, along with a boy with dirty blond hair, and three other unimportant-looking boys. Surrounding the warehouse were various mirrors and pieces of artwork. Each artwork bore the dirty blond boy's face. There was also a large "S" insignia on a carpet in the center, along with three couches surrounding it.
All of this didn't seem like a valid use of a warehouse. "I'm not gonna let you get away with what you did to me and my friends, Sylvio!" the girl shouted. She could be seen in one of the mirrors, just barely. Then, she took a step towards who was assumedly Sylvio and activated her duel disk. Her face was now fully visible in the mirror.
Was that... Lulu's face? It couldn't be. Whatever was going on, Yuto was going to get to the bottom of it. He dashed into the warehouse and stood in front of the pink-haired girl. It was reckless, but she was worth the risk.
"Um... excuse me?" the girl who might be Lulu asked, "I was just trying to start a duel...?"
"I can't risk losing you again, Lulu. Leave this to me," Yuto said decisively. At that moment, Yuto noticed. Her eyes were the wrong colour. Colour contacts perhaps? But why would she be wearing...? Was this not Lulu?
She stared into Yuto's eyes fearfully, and obeyed, turning her duel disk off. Yuto turned back to his enemy. The blond, likely the Sylvio she was referring to, activated his duel disk. "Whoever you are, you're going to regret challenging the Great Sylvio!" he said with an obnoxious smirk.
He'd never met someone like this before. "I have the rarest, most expensive cards in my deck. You don't stand a ghost of a chance, Mr. Mystery."
Expensive? How could a card be expensive? They all were produced in the same way, to Yuto's knowledge. He ran a hand through his black hair, irritated by his confusion, and the enemy's overconfidence.
"It's not about the cards, it's about who wields them," Yuto said as his duel disk shuffled then spat out five cards for Yuto's opening hand. This only happened if he lost the coin toss to decide who goes first. Indeed, the screen on his duel disk indicated his opponent was choosing who goes first.
"As benevolent as I am, I will allow you to start off, Mr. Mystery," Sylvio stated, tapping his duel disk. He decided to run with that grating nickname. Maybe it was just his voice saying it that was grating. Either way, Yuto didn't want to hear it.
Yuto glanced back at the girl whose breath seemed to have hitched. Her eyes were now wide as saucers, their incorrect hue now unmistakable. Something was going on, but before Yuto could figure this out, he'd have to win this duel.